Camilo Villegas

Villegas was born in Medell�­n, Colombia, and began playing golf as a child. After winning several different National Junior Championships in Colombia between the ages of 8 and 15, he became the first player, at 16, in Colombian golf history to win the Amateur's Grand Slam in the same year: The National Junior Championship (stroke play), the National Junior Championship (match play), the National Amateur Championship and the Colombian Open in the amateur category. Then, in 2001, he became only the second player to win the Colombian Open as an amateur. His success in Colombian golf throughout the 1990s earned him the distinction of "Player of the Decade" issued by the Colombian Golf Federation.
Villegas accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida, where he played for coach Buddy Alexander's Florida Gators men's golf team in NCAA competition from 2001 to 2004. Villegas was an All-American all four years and graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 2004. He turned pro after his graduation.
Popularity in his homeland caused Colombian TV to pick up 30 PGA Tour golf broadcasts in 2006. Villegas was featured in the July 2006 issue of GQ, and was selected as one of People Magazine's "Hottest Bachelors" in 2006, the only professional athlete chosen.
He was runner-up at the 1999 U.S. Junior Amateur at the Country Club of York (Pa.), where he fell to Hunter Mahan in the final, 4 and 2.
His brother, Manuel, is also a professional golfer who plays on the Web.com Tour and PGA Tour Latinoam�©rica.
Villegas reached the PGA Tour in 2006 after finishing 13th on the 2005 Web.com Tour money list. After starting 2005 with no status on the Web.com Tour, he gained Special Temporary Membership with five top-10 finishes in his first 10 starts of the season.
In 2008 at the age of 26, he won twice in the FedExCup playoffs at the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship. Those wins came in a stretch in which he finished T-4th at the PGA Championship, then T-3rd at the Deutsche Bank Championship. His Tour Championship win came after defeating Sergio Garcia in a one-hole playoff. Finished 2nd in the FedExCup rankings and 7th on the money list.
Returned to the winner's circle with his five-shot win at the 2010 Honda Classic, bouncing back from a rough season in 2009 when he dropped to 42nd in the FedExCup rankings.
Played on the 2009 Presidents Cup Team.
2005 Web.com Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 26; in money - 22; top-10 finishes - 9; stroke average - 70.02 (ranked 5th); money - $233,218 (ranked 13th); best finish - T-2nd, BellSouth Panama Championship.
2011 Notes: The season got off to a bad start in Hawaii with a DQ and didn't get back on track until the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup. He made only 14 of 25 cuts but closed the season with three top 10s in his last four events, including a T-6th at the Barclays and BMW Championship.
2012 Notes: Did not record a top-10 finish in 21 starts in the regular season (best finish, T-18th at Zurich) to miss the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in his career. Finished the year 148th in the FedExCup race and for the first time out of the top 100 of the money list at 144th.
2013 Notes: Returned to the land of top 10s, finishing T-9th at the RBC Heritage and T-10th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. After missing the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in his career in 2012, made a return this season, thanks to five top-25 finishes in 16 made cuts. Was one of five players to advance from outside the top 100 in the FedExCup standings at The Barclays. Finished T-54th to move from 110th to 100th, entering the Deutsche Bank Championship. His T-35th finish at the Deutsche Bank wasn't good enough to climb inside the top 70 and advance to the BMW Championship, the event he won in 2008. Finished 82nd in the FedExCup rankings and 117th on the money list.
2014 Notes: Had a rough start to the year, with no top 10s until he won the Wyndham Championship in August. It was his first PGA Tour win in more than four years, a span of 116 starts. Played in three FedExCup Playoff events, finishing 48th in the FedExCup rankings and 62nd on the money list.
2015 Notes: His only top-20 finish was a 16th at the Honda Classic. Between the Valero Texas Open and the Wells Fargo, he either missed the cut or withdrew from six events.
In July 2016, Villegas withdrew from the Olympics in Rio to concentrate on the PGA Tour and secure a card for the 2016-17 season. He also mentioned concerns over the Zika virus as another reason to pull out from the Olympics. Villegas did not regain his Tour card and played the 2016â??17 season with only past champion status. He eventually played well enough to regain his PGA Tour privileges for the 2017-18 season. He had a bad shoulder injury in 2018 that put him on the sidelines for about a year. He struggled and was not able to retain his PGA Tour for 2020. He played in nine events on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 and '21, best finish was T-4th at the CC de Bogota Championship. At the same time, his daughter Mia was fighting tumors on her brain and spine. She died on July 26, 2020, at the age of 22 months old. Following her death, the PGA Tour paid tribute to her in the following tournaments, including the PGA Championship and the Wyndham Championship, by giving players small rainbow pins for their caps, as Camilo revealed Mia's immense love for rainbows. Many players continued wearing the pins in their caps for the rest of the season, and Villegas received tremendous support within the PGA community, the sporting world, and his fans in Colombia.
Despite the tragedy, Villegas said in a heartfelt interview that he would try to reconnect himself with the game of golf and return to form, stating that "despite not being able to change what has happened, we will try to seek the future, with the memory of Mia by our side." A month after her death, Villegas returned to competitive golf, making starts in Korn Ferry Tour tournaments to the acclaim of his fellow competitors.
2021 Notes: He played in 26 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts and two top-ten finishes, and ended the year 130th in the FedExCup rankings. Was T-6th at the RSM Classic and T-8th at the Honda Classic.
2022 Notes: He played in 26 PGA Tour events, making 12 cuts with one top-25 finish, ending the year 188th in the FedExCup rankings. His best finish was T-13th at the Barbasol Championship.
2023 Notes: He played in 13 PGA Tour events, making 6 cuts and two top-ten finishes, and ended the year 224th in the FedExCup rankings. In the fall of 2023 was T-2nd at the World Wide Technology, two shots back of winner Erik Van Rooyen. The next week won the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. Shot rounds of 67-63-65-65 to finish two shots better than Alex Noren. With that Villegas will be a member of the PGA Tour for the next two years.
2024 Notes: Best finish T-50th at the Sentry